Road Blocks Stopping Us From Reaching The Next Level

      If I were to really get vulnerable and honest, I would have to say that one of the biggest struggles I deal with in my Christian walk is having a quiet time.  I find myself so often making excuses or simply getting lazy and don’t spend the time in God’s Word that I should.  It is so easy in this overly stimulated world that we live in; between phones, television, or even being overly involved in worldly activities, to find ourselves pushing God to the back burner.  Even as I write this, I find myself distracted by what’s going on in the next room, thoughts of my to-do list, and even the worship song I am listening to in attempts to drown out the background noise.  It is a battle I often find myself in.  However, I know deep down that there is nothing more valuable in my Christian walk than immersing myself into God’s word and spending time in his presence.  I don’t think God can make the importance of studying scripture any clearer than what he says in Joshua 1:8 “Study this book of instruction continually, meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.  Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”   I believe that sometimes God calls us to a deeper level with him at the moment right before he brings us to the next level in our lives.  That verse comes at the moment when God is just about to allow Joshua to lead the Israelites out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land.  Talk about a new level in life!

      In my own life this has occurred several times.  I can vividly remember one such time as a high school senior at a tremendous crossroads trying to decide what the next step in my life should be.  I had narrowed my choices down to 2 vastly different universities and majors.  One was to study Agricultural Business at a state university and the other was to study Youth Ministry at a Christian university.  I remember praying over and over for guidance, direction, and peace.  It came!  I realized that there was not a sense of peace about going to the Christian university, as noble as that may have been.  God had other things in store for me.  However, I had to really press in to be able to receive the answer I needed.

      Sometimes we put off pressing in.  I know that I am the number one procrastinator in that area because if I get really honest: It’s hard!  It’s hard to unplug and just focus on God.  However, for me at least, it is so very rewarding when I actually do it.  When I finally just get alone with God that is when he can really speak to me.

      There is a story in Luke chapter 10 that shines a light on the value of spending time with the Lord rather than focusing on all of life’s distractions, even if those distractions are not bad things.  It is the story of the two sisters: Martha and Mary.  Martha is a type A personality who is busy preparing a big dinner for Jesus and his disciples, which honestly seems like a wonderful thing to be busy with.  However, her sister is not helping with the preparations; she is instead sitting around listening to what Jesus has to say.  Martha, being the type A person, says to Jesus (paraphrased) “It’s not fair that I’m doing all this work and Mary is doing nothing, tell her to get up and help me.”  Rather than relaying the message to Mary, Jesus tells Martha, “You are worried and upset over all these details!  There is only one thing worth being concerned about.  Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41 NLT. Apparently even Jesus saw the value of stopping and just spending time with the Lord without allowing the distractions of life to get in the way.

      I find myself falling into the same trap as Martha all the time.  Even something as simple as worrying about what I will be cooking for lunch after church can completely distract me from spending time with Jesus and learning what the Lord is trying to speak to me during the actual church service.

      Just like human relationships, our relationship with God is a two-way street.  Good relationships require time and effort on the part of both people involved.  When two people spend a lot of time and energy together they grow closer and enjoy each other’s company.  You really get to know someone when they are a part of your everyday life.  I know so many things about my husband; his likes, dislikes, and favorite hobbies because we have spent countless hours together.  We love each other’s company and we serve each other.  He does many things for me all the time, and I do the same thing for him.  However, if the only time I talked to him was when I needed something and I never even acknowledged him any other time, there would probably be some resentment on his part.  Eventually he may not even want to be in a relationship anymore.

      Fortunately for us, no matter how much we push God away, he never wants to not be in relationship with us.  He seeks to have a relationship with us.  “For the Son of man came to seek and save those who are lost” Luke 19:10 NLT. He came after us.   He is in constant pursuit of us every single day of our life.  “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in” Revelation 3:20 NIV.  The catch in that verse is where it says “IF anyone hears my voice AND opens the door.”  That tells me that there is an action required on our part.  We must first hear Gods voice but we also have to allow him in.  That’s where many people, myself included, tend to struggle.  We have to learn how to push past our inhibitions to step into the blessings of God.

Trusting God in Times of Testing

It’s so easy when all is said and done after going through a hard time, to look back and see how God was orchestrating everything, even in the darkest of times.  However, it is sometimes nearly impossible to see those things when we are in the heart of the battle.  So how can we shift our mindset to get out of only seeing God’s hand when we look in the rear-view mirror, to actually being able to see him working even in the deepest trenches in the heart of the battle?  For me at least, this is one of my biggest struggles.  It is so easy to talk about my big faith and how “God works all things together for his good” (Romans 8:28 paraphrased) when everything is “good”.  However, when things aren’t so “good”, panic, doubt, and discouragement can often take hold.  It doesn’t seem to matter how many times God has triumphantly taken us through the hard times, when they hit our fleshly ways seem to always set back in.  So, how can we break free of that cycle?  I wish I had the perfect answer, however, just like everyone else I still struggle through this issue myself.  However, I have found some great ideas on how to manage this struggle throughout the Bible.

      One of my favorite stories about trusting God through the hard times is the story of Joseph.  God gave Joseph a dream at the young age of 17 of the things that He had planned for him.  What a miraculous thing to feel like God himself had shown Joseph a glimpse of the future he had in store for him.  What an amazing moment to have a dream from God! However, that was only the beginning of his journey.  Everything didn’t turn into rainbows and sunshine the moment he had the dream.  He had to go through some difficult and insanely frustrating times to get from the moment of the dream to its actual fulfillment. 

Joseph’s first trial came in the form of betrayal by his own family.  His own brothers (who mind you didn’t particularly like Joseph anyways especially since he was daddy’s favorite son and had recently told them about a dream which involved them bowing down to him), had decided to sell Joseph into slavery.  Now as awful as that is, it does beat what their original plan for him was; they wanted to kill him.  However, it still had to be a devastating blow (I can’t imagine the fear and disappointment of becoming a slave).  I imagine that his mind had to immediately go to a place of depression and doubt.  He had to have thought in the back of his mind that there was no way anyone would bow down to him now.  Even in the midst of this course change, however, Joseph still acted as a Godly man.

He was purchased by a man named Potiphar who was the Captain of the Guard for the Pharaoh.  Joseph worked hard right where God had placed him and he was blessed for it.  Even though he was a slave, his master noticed how God had been blessing his household through Joseph.  He respected Joseph so much that he even promoted him to be in charge of everything he owned.

“The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master.  Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did.  This pleased Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant.  He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned.  From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the Lord began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake.  All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished.  So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned.  With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing-except what kind of food to eat!” Genesis 39:2-6

Joseph was in charge of absolutely everything Potiphar owned.  He wasn’t promoted because he grumbled and complained every day or because he did what he had to do due to the fact he was a slave and had no other choice.  No, he was promoted because he focused on exactly where he was placed and worked unto the Lord to do the very best job that he could do.  God blessed him for that.  He was given a tremendous amount of favor in the eyes of his owner.

That’s where so many of us, myself included, struggle.  I often find myself grumbling and complaining and not focusing on working unto the Lord.  I truly believe, and this is with me not trying to point fingers because they are pointed at me too, that we as humans often stand in the way of God’s blessings.  We get so self-focused that we don’t even realize that the slight (or even major) discomforts we are going through in our lives are meant to refine us and develop us for our future.

For many women, a golden diamond ring is often the most beautiful and prized possession that she will ever receive.  However, the beautiful diamond in the ring did not start out so beautiful.  It had to undergo tremendous amounts of heat and pressure over an extended period of time in order to shine.  The gold also had to endure a heat so intense that all impurities were burned away before it was formed into a beautiful gold band.  It is the same with us as humans.  Often during some of our most challenging times, we are being tested the most.  Those tests are what “refine” us into who it is God intends for us to be.

“Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the Lord tests the heart.”  Proverbs 17:3

In my own life, I have found that the tests that have been the most frustrating have often been the very ones that have brought me to the next level.  That is such a hard reality to deal with.  However, if we can get to that realization, it is so much easier to at the least except but hopefully learn how to enjoy the refining process.  That isn’t to say that we need to slap a smile on our face every time something gets tough, however, we can be encouraged during thought times knowing that even when we feel like we are lost in the wilderness that we serve a God that is in control and he knows what we are going through.

“But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31